Dr. Alex George on his brother's death
Dr. Alex George's 19-year-old brother took his own life earlier this year.
The Love Island star spoke about it in much more detail during an appearance on Lorraine this week.
The doctor is encouraging anyone struggling with mental health issues to open up, and talk to someone.
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Alex was at a restaurant with some friends when he found out about his brother's death.
He revealed, "I had a phone call from my dad and I could tell from the call."
"I said, "What has happened? Who has passed away?" You could tell something bad had happened."
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Alex continued, "When he said it was Llŷr, the world kind of ended in that sense."
His little brother Elliott collected him and they drove to Wales to be with their family.
"We sat in silence for like five hours between you know, each of us just crying and shouting..."
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"I couldn't believe that this had happened..."
The doctor recalled, "It was weird, I went into different parts of my mind on that journey home."
"Like really dark parts of your mind to be honest."
"And just disbelief, I couldn't believe that this had happened..."
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Llŷr had the same passions as Alex
Alex described his brother as a mini version of himself.
He said they shared the same passions: cars, medicine, science etc.
"Losing someone to mental health is obviously very tough..."
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The reality star said mental health always shocked him in his personal career.
And now, it's shocked him in his personal life.
Alex insisted, "It's so important that we realise it can affect anyone in any circumstance."
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"I always wanted to protect and look after him"
The Love Island star said he felt, "tremendous guilt. I’m a doctor. I’m the older brother."
"I always wanted to protect and look after him. What could I have done differently?"
"I’m supposed to be a mental health advocate. It was just the worst thing."
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Alex said it's so important that people treat mental health as an illness.
He said of course we need to raise awareness, but it's also important to make, "tangible change."
"It's improving funding in the NHS towards mental health, it's improving education at schools around mental health, it's about raising awareness of all the things we can do to look after ourselves."
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Alex added, "COVID has really highlighted and really put pressure on mental health..."
"Now more than ever we need to look after ourselves, we need to be kind..."
Watch Alex's full interview here:
If you need support, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or click here for more details.
